RE-WORK - Charging Through Change

We are now in an environment where we face constant change, both inside and outside of the workplace. Despite the frequency with which we encounter change, many people can experience negative symptoms associated with the change process, including disengagement and cynicism.

These symptoms can negatively impact your employees’ performance and those working around them. This can compromise the overall change process within your workplace and affect employee mental health and wellbeing.

Some people thrive in a changing and new working environment while others do not. A key reason that we respond in the way that we do to any type of change comes down to our own unique set of personal values - those things in life that are most important to us.

Our personal values differ from person to person based on our unique upbringing, beliefs and experiences in life. When we experience value fulfilment in our lives, we are more likely to feel happy and maintain a sense of enjoyment, engagement and overall wellbeing. We are also able to be more resilient to change and disappointment.

When our values are not being fulfilled, or are being compromised by our work or home life, our ability to maintain this sense of wellbeing is more challenging.

Any type of change has the potential to either fulfil or to compromise some of our values.

Think about the following scenario:

An employee who has the value of ‘belonging’ looks to support that sense of belonging in the workplace by being part of a close-knit team who support and interact well with each other.

A change in working environment, where this employee is moved away from their team and having to complete more tasks on their own, is likely to create a stressful and challenging situation for them.

Compare the same situation experienced by another employee who has an ‘independence’ value and seeks to support this value at work by being able to work on their own for the most part. Their response to the same initial change will be more accepting than our first employee, simply because they have different personal values.

This scenario demonstrates that, as individuals we will be affected by change in different ways depending on the type of change and the timing of it.

Most employees have not been taught how to identify what their key values are, and therefore, cannot take ownership of actively designing their week/month or environment (inside and outside the workplace) to fulfil their values in order to manage their engagement levels and overall mental health.

Once we better understand why we are responding in the way that we are to any change, we are in a better position to identify strategies to assist us to manage our response to change with less negative stress. This can have a positive impact on our employees’ mental health and emotional wellbeing moving forward.

Our ‘RE:WORK’ program provides participants with a practical understanding on how they can proactively enhance their ability to cope with change by helping them to identify their personal values and how to take responsibility for their own fulfilment of these values.

As a result, your workforce will develop the skills to view change as an opportunity to enhance their levels of satisfaction and engagement.

PARTICIPANTS WILL:

Enhance their understanding of common characteristics associated with change

Identify their personal values

Understand how they can take a more proactive role in managing the change process